(November 29, 1996) Numerous groups are running a pre-Christmas campaign against Siemens Corporation for the latter's work in promoting and building nuclear power plants in eastern Europe, and we would like you to join if you have not already.
(462.4584) WISE Amsterdam -In many countries this will take the form of a boycott of Siemens products in the pre-Christmas period. In others, it will be an information and action campaign to educate people and hurt Siemens' public image. The month-long campaign begins on Nov. 26 with simultaneous press conference and press releases. Even if your organization has very little time or resources to work on this issue, please look at the section called "How to get involved" which includes easy but significant things your group can do to help.
Siemens: The Driving Nuclear Force in Eastern Europe
Siemens is the major force in the continued operation of dangerous nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe, including the Commonwealth of Independent States. Without Siemens and a couple of other Western nuclear companies,the governments of the largest industrial countries would probably have followed the advice of the World Bank which they commissioned in 1992. They concluded after a year-long investigation that it was U.S.$ 6 billion cheaper to close the 25 oldest Russian- designed reactors than to upgrade them to acceptable standards (this includes the cost of replacing the energy). Instead Siemens, desperate for work in the East after their Western market totally collapsed, has successfully lobbied the EU to provide hundreds of millions of dollars for "safety upgrades" for these plants, which many experts feel cannot be sufficiently upgraded. So far, not a single one of these reactors has been closed down with Western aid. The hypocrisy is that the only reactors of this designto be closed were the ones operating in Greifswald, East Germany, shortly after reunification. These were considered to be too dangerous to run and too expensive to fix.
Siemens is also the major force in the completion of partially finished and totally new Russian-designed reactors. Entrenched and often corrupt nuclear bureaucracies of Eastern Europe have found help in Siemens in their dangerous dream of nuclear expansion. Eastern Europe wastes so much energy that if they were to obtain the energy efficiency level of Western Europe (which is still deficient in many ways), they could close all of the currently running reactors. It is simply criminal to build additional unsafe reactors with scarce aid funds. Now the hypocrisy is doubled: Germany is guaranteeing loans for Siemens to build the Mochovce reactor in Slovakia which is of the same type as some of the reactors which has been closed at Greifswald.
Why are we protesting Siemens work?
It is not too late to reverse the damage Siemens has done and to stop it from creating unneeded and dangerous nuclear facilities in Eastern Europe. Siemens only receives about 3 percent of its revenue from nuclear projects, significantly down its peak in the late '70s. But all of the company is hurt by campaigns and boycotts, and other departments are already openly critical of the company for pursuing this technology. And especially since the technology is virtually dead in the industrial West, to stop Siemens in East Europe will likely be the end of additional nuclear power plant constructions on the continent, except for France.
We have a moral obligation to the generations after us to try to stop a problem that they would have to pay for at a much higher price than we do. We need to do what we can to stop this industry which is simply economically unjustifiable and environmentally disastrous.
How to get involved?
Boycott/Information Campaign: About 20 groups have agreed to organize boycotts of Siemens products in their countries/regions. The minimum conditions for being involved in this boycott are:
- A press release calling upon customers not to buy Siemens products because of itscontinuing involvement with nuclear power.
- Distributing Siemens boycott information in your own publications.
One thing very much recommended is a cut-out postcard which can be sent to Siemens by members of your group. If you want to address these cards directly to Siemens, here is the address of the executive director:
Dr. Heinrich von Pierer
Wittelsbacherpl. 2
80333 Munchen, Germany
fax: 0049-89-234-42-42
E-mail: roland.huegel@mchw.siemens.de
The principal organizers for this action are:
Global 2000 Austria
Friends of the Earth International
Hnuti DUHA (Czech Republic)
Za Matku Zem (For Mother Earth-Slovakia)
Siemens Boycott (Germany)
Over 590 groups have signed the Open Letter. Most of these come via the Siemens-Boycott which represents over 300 groups on this issue.
Source and Contact: Paxus Calta at Global 2000
Flursch uetzstr. 13 A-1120 Vienna
Austria
tel: +43 -1-8125730
fax: +43 -1-8125728
E-mail: Global2000@t0.or.at
Related Item: Background material on Mochovce nuclear plant and Siemens in the East.